Docker Development

Dockerfile Best Practices

• •Use multi-stage builds to minimize image size
• •Order layers from least to most frequently changing
• •Use specific base image tags, not :latest
• •Run as non-root user
• •Use COPY instead of ADD unless extracting archives
• •Use .dockerignore to exclude unnecessary files
• •Combine RUN commands to reduce layers
• •Use BuildKit cache mounts for package managers

Docker Compose

• •Always include init: true for proper zombie reaping
• •Use named volumes for persistence
• •Use build args for configuration, env vars for runtime
• •Never pass secrets as build arguments

Container Patterns

• •Use tini or --init for proper signal handling
• •Keep containers single-purpose
• •Use health checks for service readiness
• •Log to stdout/stderr, not files
• •Use environment variables for runtime configuration